


Fossil Fuels: The Road To Recovery

by mikronicos



Series: The Adventures Of The Patients Of Thomas Sanders, PhD. [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS/FRIENDSHIPS, All of the sides are in gaslighting and/or abusive relationships, Alternate Universe - Human, Baker Morality | Patton Sanders, Defense Attorney Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Depression, GASLIGHTING; GASLIGHTING RELATIONSHIPS/FRIENDSHIPS, Gen, High School Teacher Logan, Human Sides (Sanders Sides), Insecure Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Insecure Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Insecure Logic | Logan Sanders, Insecure Morality | Patton Sanders, It's Not Paranoia If They're Really Out To Get You, M/M, Multi, SOCIAL/MENTAL ABUSE; SHITTY BOSSES/COWORKERS, Self Confidence Issues, Self-Doubt, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Harm, Self-Hatred, Small-Time Actor Roman Sanders, TW: MENTIONED RAPE; MENTIONED DOMESTIC VIOLENCE/ABUSE, Teacher Logic | Logan Sanders, Therapy, This Is Not Going To Go The Way You Think, Told in the perspective of their shared therapist... Thomas!, they're all insecure, this is kinda dark and gritty but not too gritty, unemployment
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2019-09-14
Packaged: 2020-11-02 05:48:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20642237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikronicos/pseuds/mikronicos
Summary: YOUR HUSBAND CROSSES THE LINE in his flirtations with another woman at a dinner party. When you confront him, he asks you to stop being insecure and controlling. After a long argument, you apologize for giving him a hard time.Your mother belittles your clothes, your job, and your boyfriend. But instead of fighting back, you wonder if your mother is right and figure that a mature person should be able to take some criticism.If you think things like this can’t happen to you, think again. Gaslighting is an insidious form of emotional abuse and manipulation that is difficult to recognize and even harder to break free from.-THE GASLIGHT EFFECT, by T. Sanders. (It’s actually by Robin Stern, really great book, highly recommended)





	Fossil Fuels: The Road To Recovery

**Author's Note:**

> ALRIGHT FOLKS ONE OF MY MOST DARK NOVELS YET LET'S DO IT! Welcome to "Fossil Fuels: The Road To Recovery." The fossil fuels part is because this book is about gaslighting and I absolutely love puns.

The man that enters my office looks tired and stressed. His nails are bitten to stubs and his face is hollowed and waxy. I smile. “I’m Thomas Sanders. Have a seat.”

He complies, hunching over in the armchair across from me. “Virgil. Virgil Malochre-Ramon.” He winces sympathetically as I try to write that down. “Sorry, I know it’s a bit of a mouthful.” He looks like he says the word  _ sorry  _ a lot. I write that down too.

“So, what brings you here?”

Virgil bites his tongue, hesitating. “I- God, this sounds so stupid- I’m here because I feel like my boss is ruining my life.”

I hum, considering his statement and turning it over and over in my head. “And what makes you think that?” He tenses up, as if expecting something. I don’t know what. I jot that down, making a note to try and expand on that topic.

“I- I don’t know-” He pulls at his hair and rubs his wrists anxiously. “He just- I was so close to taking over my firm. I’m a defense attorney. At the last minute, this guy got the job. So I- I swallowed my stupid feelings and my bitterness and I tried to give him all of the help he needed. I filled out release forms, ordered in supplies, did everything that helped to keep the office running.” He gets more and more agitated as he tells his story, and at the end of that sentence he’s breathing in short gasps and his foot is tappng frantically against my carpet. 

I click my pen and jot down a couple of his anxious mannerisms, then look up. “It’s okay, take your time. You don’t have to say it all at once. Deep breaths, alright Virgil? In for four seconds.” I inhale exaggeratedly, coaching him through the rest of the breathing pattern.

He starts again, decidedly more calm than before. “He was so nice and charming at first. Then I started noticing he wasn’t giving me any of the good cases, or inviting me to important meetings, and leaving me out of major decisions for the firm.” I inhale sharply, writing that down. 

“And that made you feel underappreciated? Like you weren’t being valued for who you are?”

He looks uneasy. “Yeah. I- I felt like he wasn’t paying attention to me or using my skill set. But then I told my coworkers.” He tenses up similarly to how he did when I asked why he was uncomfortable with his boss.

I click my pen, jotting the information down and taking a sip of tea from my Thermos. “And what happened then?”

“They didn’t believe me.” He sighs. “They told me that he always ‘praises me to the skies’ and he’s constantly talking about my good work. He always asks me if there’s anything he can do for me, and I- I just can’t take it!”

I hum, considering. “Okay. So, why don’t you talk to your boss about it?”

He snaps his fingers agitatedly, flapping his hands anxiously. “I can’t! What can I do? He can’t do anything, I can’t do anything, so why even try when he’s gonna fire me or something worse!” I jot down his thoughts quickly.

“Why don’t you just try? If you’re this uncomfortable, try talking to him. The worst that could happen is that his behavior doesn’t change.” I smile as an attempt to be reassuring. “So why don’t we try it, okay?”

“O-Okay.”

I flip my notebook shut. “And I think that our session is over! Thanks for coming in. Does coming here next week sound good?”

He smiles. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

AN EXCERPT FROM THE GASLIGHT EFFECT BY ROBIN STERN:

_ When Robin Stern first told me she was thinking of writing about the subject of emotional abuse, we were sitting in a playground watching my children play. Outside the playground a path meandered. A four-or-five-year-old boy who had been walking next to his father ran exuberantly down the path ahead for a moment, then tripped on some gravel and fell hard. He was clearly hurt and struggling not to cry. His father's face tightened: "What have you done to yourself now?" he snapped, pulling the boy roughly to his feet by one arm. "You are so clumsy I can't even believe it. I tell you to be more careful all the time." _

_ It was an awful moment. We, the adults, were flinching at the failure of empathy shown by the father. We wondered if we should say something. But what was even more painful was watching the child try to recompose himself and try to make sense of what his father had said. He seemed visibly trying to interpret his father's words to make them somehow not be cruel. You could almost hear him thinking, "I am clumsy, I am not hurt because my father has just wounded my feelings but because I did not listen to my father better. It is my fault." _


End file.
